Hand knitting needle



y 1938. o. BURGER HAND KNITTING NEEDLE Filed June 22, 1936 w hm F pk

Patented May 10, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 22', 1936, SerialNo. 86,679 V In Germany August 9, 1933 6 Claims. (01. 66-11-7) One kind of known hand knitting needles which has a broadened end portion behind the point of the needle is advantageous in that the stitches formed by hand can be moved easily or even slide automatically towards the end of the needle. Another kind of known needle is provided with grooves at its Working end, so that the point of the needle can enter a groove in the cooperating needle and the removal of the stitches be facilitated thereby in an advantageous manner.

Now, the subject of the invention is a hand knitting needle which combines the advantage of both the above-named types of needles. According to the invention, the end portion behind the point of a hand knitting needle is broadened by impressing longitudinal grooves therein or by slitting and widening the needle at this portion; in other words, the material of the needle is displaced at this part. The number of longitudinal grooves and slots depends on the desired degree of broadening and the special requirements of the knitting thread and the knitted goods and can, therefore, vary appreciably in different cases.

It may here be mentioned that in the manufacture of needles of another type", for example in the manufacture of machine needles for knitting and sewing machines, it is known practice to produce broadened portions by slitting or widening.

30 These machine needles, however, do not, as do hand knitting needles, serve the purpose of producing stitches of a definite width on the needle, and thereby render it easily possible for the stitches to be displaced.

5 The enlarged part of the needle may, according to the invention, also be provided with simple slits or slits producing a cruciform cross-section, in which case the broadening is maintained by filling pieces or wedges inserted in the slits.

40 In order to render easy the transition from the use of the round knitting needles hitherto usually employed to the new form of needles, and to provide that the handling of the new needles is not noticeably different, according to a further if) feature of the inventionthe front part of the longitudinal slits may be blanked by leaving material in the front of the slits in their process of shaping. the needle. the unskillful knitter is prevented, when lifting the threads, from un- 50 intentionally inserting the point of the active needle into the groove of the passive needle from which stitches are taken, and in the further process of knitting from thrusting the point of the active needle into the longitudinal groove of 55 the passive needle. The part of the longitudinal groove in the passive needle which co-operates with the active needle insuch a hooking and lifting action is, so to speak, bridged by the remaining material and thus any faulty guidance of the needle is impossible.

The shaping of the point of the needle is preferably carriedout in such a manner that the material remaining in the groove forms an island, which can with advantage be tongue-shaped. In certain circumstances it may be preferable" not 10 to leave a web or island of material in all longitudinal grooves at the end of the needles, but to leave grooves disposed in opposite sides of the needle without such island.

In needles for knitting interlaced threads, the 1'5 blanking material is preferably left only on one fiat side of the knitting needle, while the other side is provided with a continuous uninterrupted longitudinal groove.

In order to facilitate the taking up of threads on the thickened points of the needles, these may, according to the invention, be entirely or partially notched or roughened.

The knitting needle made according to the in vention has inter alia the advantage that it can be made in a very economical manner, as a wire of a diameter that corresponds to the diameter of the shaft of the needle can be used for its manufacture.

Various examples of construction of needles embodying the invention are shown in' the accompanying drawing.

Fig. 1 shows the plan of a knitting needle with.

a broadened end portion.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section taken on the line AB of Fig. 1.

Fig. 2a is a cross-section taken on line C D of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 shows a longitudinal section along the sectional line |-I of Fig. 1.

Fig.- 4 is a plan view of a needle the end of which has been broadened by slitting and widenmg.

Figs. 5 and 5a. show two different cross se'cti'ons corresponding to sections taken on the line G--I-I 5 (Fig. 4) of two needles, Fig. 5 having simple slits and Fig. So. having slits cutting one another at right angles.

Fig. 6 shows in plan a knitting needle with an island of blanking material in the front part of the slit. 7

Fig. 7 is a longitudinal section along the sectional line II-II of Fig. 6.

Figs. 8 and 9 are cross-sections along the lines IIIIII and IV-IV of Fig. 6.

Fig. 10 is a cross-section through another form of construction of the knitting needle.

The knitting needle according to Fig. 1 is made from one piece of material and is provided at one or both ends with the blunt point a which merges into the broadened cylindrical operative part b, which determines the width of the stitch produced. Hollow grooves c are pressed into the needle shaft and displace the material outwards, the diameter of the operative part b is increased and this part is at the same time stiffened.

As may be seen from Fig. 3, the bases of the hollow grooves c are inclined towards their ends in order that, at the point, and where the web between the grooves joins the shank of the needle, i. e. the portion (1, the needle is properly formed. The cylindrical operative part of the needle merges into the conical shaped part at and then into the cylindrical shank e which forms the main length of the needle. In knitting needles with two points there follows a second pointed operative part b, or in the case of long needles with only one point, the end button usually formed at the opposite end. During knitting the thread is engaged by the needle point a, the

stitchiormed, and its width or magnitude determined by the operative part b. The stitches slide over the conical part (1 on to the cylindrical thin shank e, on which latter the rows of stitches are advanced loosely and positively without assistance by; hand, in both directions when knitting on one needle and also when knitting ofi? from the passive needle to the active needle.

The needle points a, on their entire surface or the part of their surface, where the thread is engaged, are slightly notched or roughened, the end aimed at and attained being a much easier engagement of the thread in the formation of the stitch, in that the thread does not slide off as easily as from a smoothly polished point. The

' I slight notching or roughening g acts similarly to the small hook of a crochet needle, and simplifies the knitting movements. On the operative parts I) the thread slides over the hollow groove more easily than on a solid round needle, because the frictional resistance is smaller in consequence of the flattened cross-sectional shape. The form chosen for this operative part makes it handier and more easily held than an ordinary round needle. Another form of construction according to the invention is shown in Figs. 4 and 5. In this construction the broadening of the operative part b is produced by making simple slits or slits which cross one another, followed by bending and finishing of the parts concerned. The slits h are widened and, by pressing, brought into the desired form. With needles of non-bendable material having a certain elasticity, the slitted part can be maintained in its broadened form by means of wedges or inserts i.

The form of construction of the knitting needle shown in Figs. 6 to 10 difiers from that illustrated in Figs. 1 to in that a tongue-shaped island of material or an elongated tongue is is left at the front part of the longitudinal groove e, by which island lateral grooves are formed, which grooves, behind the island, merge once more into the longitudinal'groove c. Fig. illustrates a form of construction of the knitting needle in which, at the end of the needle, besides the longitudinal grooves with the island of material is, further longitudinal grooves m are pressed. In

the grooves m no island of blanking material is left. It is, however, also possible to leave material in a suitable manner in order to effect a bridging of the front part of the grooves m.

All the forms of construction of needles described above can be produced easily in one operation. The invention is naturally not limited to the example of construction illustrated, but also includes other forms of construction within the scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A hand knitting needle comprising a cylindrical portion, a point at at least one end of the cylindrical portion, a broadened end portion between the point and the cylindrical portion, the diameter of the broadened portion exceeding the diameter of the cylindrical portion, and a pair of slits extending through the broadened portion at right angles to each other, and an insert in each slit.

2. A pointed hand knitting needle having a cylindrical portion and a widened portion between the point and the cylindrical portion, said widened portion having longitudinal reentrant grooves on opposed sides separated by a web constituting the thinnest part of the needle material and the edges of said grooves being smoothly rounded, and an elongated tongue in each groove near the point, each tongue constituting an island of material projecting from the web substantially into the plane of the edges of the groove.

3. A hand knitting needle comprising a cylindrical portion, a point at at least one end of the cylindricalportion, a broadened longitudinally and re-entrantly grooved end portion between the point and the cylindrical portion, the diameter of the broadened portion exceeding the diameter of the cylindrical portion, and an elongated tongue in the groove near the point of the knitting needle.

4. A hand knitting needle comprising a cylindrical portion, a point at at least one end of the cylindrical portion, a broadened longitudinally and re-entrantly grooved end portion between the point and the cylindrical portion, the diameter of the broadened portion exceeding the diameter of the cylindrical portion, and an elongated tongue in the groove.

5. A hand knitting needle comprising a cylindrical portion, a point at at least one end of the cylindrical portion, a broadened longitudinally and re-entrantly grooved end portion between the point and the cylindrical portion, the diameter of the broadened portion exceeding the diameter of the cylindrical portion, the broadened end portion having spaced lateral parts forming the longitudinal re-entrant grooves therebetween, and an elongated tongue in the groove the top surface being flush with the edges of the groove.

6. A hand knitting needle comprising a cylindrical portion, a point at at least one end of the cylindrical portion, a broadened longitudinally and re-entrantly grooved end portion between the point and the cylindrical portion, the diameter of the broadened portion exceeding the diameter of the cylindrical portion, the groove being in the form of a longitudinal widened slit extending through the needle material, and an insert in the slit to maintain it in its widened position.

OSKAR BURGER. 

